The Strike of Waves
by L-ghts
Summary: Adriana Garcia's just another typical American high schooler- except, she finds out that she's a demigod with an important quest to complete. Seriously suck at summaries. T for language & such. Restarting the story.
1. Chapter 1

**So this is back! Yay! Since it's winter break, I've decided to try and do a chapter every day or two & perhaps finish this story while I'm still motivated.**

**((After two more years of English classes maybe my writing has improved?))**

**P.S. This does have language & such. Just another warning.**

**P.S.S. DISCLAIMER. Anything you recognize belongs to the wonderful Rick Riordan.**

* * *

There is such a thing of waking up on the wrong side of the bed- if the bed was torn, lumpy, and actually a couch. It wouldn't help if someone were to roll off and fall really early in the morning. That someone would happen to be none other than Adriana Garcia.

She got up and groaned, rubbing the back of her head. She headed toward the bathroom quietly, careful to not wake her mother up. Closing the door on the cabinet that hung above her sink, she saw that she had somehow managed to scratch her cheek during her sleep, because when she tried to wipe it off the blood turned out to be dry.

"Great," she grumbled. She opened the cabinet again to look for a Band-Aid, and cursed when she couldn't find a single one. Her head suddenly turned to the door as she heard the sound of bedsprings squeak throughout the small apartment. She cursed again and ran out of the bathroom to try and sneak out the window but as she came out she collided with something hard. She looked up slightly to see a man with sandy hair and dark eyes. He looked confused. It didn't surprise Adriana.

"Who- who are you?" he asked, clutching his jacket tighter as if she were suddenly going to mug him.

"My name's Adriana," she said simply. "I'm Victoria's kid." She walked away from him and began to fold the sheets that had been on the couch.

"She didn't mention she had kids." He said it so low that he seemed to be talking to himself, and although he probably hadn't meant for Adriana to reply, she decided to anyway.

"_Kid_," she emphasized. "And anyway, why would she? It wouldn't help her bring guys home." she replied. She stopped folding her sheets and looked up at the man who seemed almost shocked to hear her say these things about her own mother. "What's your name?" His expression changed to something Adriana couldn't identify.

"Jim." He said simply. His eyes went to the sheets she had set on the couch and then around the room.

"The door's behind you." Adriana said, turning her back towards him and continuing to fold sheets. She could already see his face in her mind; stunned, shocked, and embarrassed.

"Thank you," he said after a small pause. "It was nice meeting you." Adriana heard the door open and close and then there was just silence to accompany her.

* * *

On Thursday, Adriana had somehow managed to get into a fight at school and break the water fountain with the best water in the school. She still didn't understand how that had been her fault, since she was pushed towards it in the first place. Her principal, however, had seen otherwise and sentenced them both to Saturday detention. And that's exactly where she was getting ready to go.

She had taken her dark red hair from its bun and let it cascade in its usual wild curls. Dark circles surrounded her eyes and that scratch on her cheek stood out against her unusually pale skin. She threw on the first clothes she saw: a blue band tee, faded shorts, sneakers and a thin black cardigan. She grabbed her lanyard and backpack and walked out the door, beginning her daily commute to school. She said hello to Doña Maria and her two kids as she left the building and grabbed an apple from the main desk as her breakfast for the day.

The Arizona summer sun wasn't merciful as Adriana stepped outside. As she walked down the street, she looked up from her apple to see her favorite little clothing store. It was called Traveler and was basically a tiny thrift shop specifically for teenagers and young adults with very good deals. She looked through the racks for a good five minutes before her phone began to ring. She rolled her eyes at the contact picture and slid her finger across the screen.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hey, Red," he replied. "Where are you?"

"I'm in Traveler. Where are _you_?" she asked, turning around to face the window, trying to spot the familiar brown curls.

"Same, almost. Just come out already." And he hung up.

Adriana put the shirt she had been looking at down and waved good-bye to the saleslady behind the register. She stepped outside, looked around a bit, and then decided to wait by a tree next to the store. Not long after, the familiar black 1980's Mercedes convertible came into view and pulled up on the curb. She smiled and ran over to the passengers seat, playfully smacking the driver on the head and laughed.

"What was that for?" he asked, looking at her with a small smile on his face.

"We're late, Wyatt." She answered, putting on her seatbelt. She looked up to see him shrug.

"Oh, well." He said as he turned up the volume and drove away, Arctic Monkeys blasting from the speakers.

Adriana looked at Wyatt as he drove. He was two years older than she was, an incoming senior, and a lot more sociable. Many girls at her school thought he was cute in a sort of bad boy way, and she couldn't argue. Not that she'd date him, or anything. He was her best friend, and she wouldn't want to ruin that. She couldn't ruin that. Adriana had been a 'misfit' ever since she had started high school in September of last year, and according to letters that the guidance counselor sent home, she had fallen in with the 'wrong crowd'. Adriana didn't mind her friends or even see them as the wrong crowd- whatever that was supposed to mean. They were just teenagers, like her, trying to figure out who they were now and who they were to become.

* * *

After her last Saturday detention was done, Adriana and her friends decided that they didn't want to go home just yet. So Wyatt drove.

The oldest, an incoming senior named Alex, was talking to the group about the college her parents were making her go to.

"It's literally in the middle of nowhere and an all girls college. An _all_ fucking girls college, can you believe that?" she said, throwing her head back. Her hair, even curlier than Adriana's, bounced.

"Um," Alex's boyfriend, Rocky, said, giving her a look. He went ignored.

"Sucks for you," said Faith, an incoming junior with purple hair and brown eyes, as she messed with her earring.

"Shut up." Alex said, deciding to look out the window. Adriana looked at her through the rear-view mirror.

"Maybe it won't be so bad, Alex. You're probably overreacting." She tried.

"Don't even try, Red. She's gonna be like this for a while." Said Rocky, shrugging. Alex elbowed him and leaned forward.

"Hey, Wyatt, where the fuck we going, anyway?"

"Wherever this road takes us, I guess. You guys aren't making any better suggestions." He answered. Alex sighed and turned towards Adriana, who was looking out the window and chewing gum.

"Where do you wanna go, Red?" Adriana turned and blew a bubble with her gum, which Alex popped and got all over her mouth.

"_Jesus_, Alex. What the hell was that for?" She began peeling the gum off her face and threw a piece towards her. The car came to a stop and Wyatt grabbed the keys, being the first to step out. The four passengers looked out the windows before they got out themselves. Immediately the sun's light burned their eyes.

"I hate the sun." Alex said as she shielded her eyes.

"You hate everything. Now shut up, why don't you?" Faith said, stepping out from the opposite side of the car.

"Uh, Wyatt?" Adriana asked, stepping towards him. She looked around and saw rocks, cacti, and hills. "Where are we, exactly?" He turned around with a smile and opened his arms wide.

"We're at the McDougal Preserve!" he exclaimed brightly. His friends, however, obviously weren't happy.

"What the fuck, Wyatt. I'd rather be home." Faith muttered, but she walked towards him anyway, looking around as she did.

"Man, what are we supposed to do?" Rocky kicked a rock and somewhere where it landed it scared a small reptile that scurried away.

"C'mon, it's _not _that bad." He said and turned towards Adriana. "Right?" Adriana shifted uncomfortably and sighed.

"I guess," she replied, looking down.

"You're so whipped, Red." Faith said, walking over to her. Adriana felt her face turn slightly red. Then again, it could have just been the Arizona sun beating down on her face. She sighed again and followed her friends, who had now gotten ahead of her, up a small rocky trail.

"Why couldn't we have gone to the Grand Canyon?" Alex asked from up ahead. Adriana chuckled.

Only twenty minutes later, the group of friends had decided to sit behind a rock and drink all the water in a small canteen.

"Damn it," Rocky said, flipping the container over and shaking it. Not a single drop came out. "You guys drank all the water!"

"Relax," Wyatt said, taking the canteen from his friend forcefully. "There's a spring right over there." He stood up and walked a few steps before turning back, asking _'are any of you gonna come with me?' _

Reluctantly, the three of them got up and followed Wyatt to a spring that was only a few feet ahead. As he filled the canteen, the rest of the group was splashing around nearby and laughing. Adriana sat on a rock, laughing, her hair and clothes slightly damp. She looked over at Wyatt and then something to her left caught her eye, making her turn and barely catching what seemed to be the end of a snake tail. She got up and tapped her friends on the shoulder, who all gave her dirty looks for interrupting their fun.

"I think I just saw a snake," she said, stepping closer.

"It's Arizona. You probably did." Rocky said. It was true, and although she had only been there for a few months she knew they weren't uncommon. Still, this whole situation had her feeling a bad vibe.

"I don't know guys, something's up. We pro-" Faith screamed from behind her and she whipped around to see a woman- no, a woman with the bottom half of her body a snake's.

What the literal hell, Adriana thought. She stood there for a second, stunned, before the snake-woman turned to face her. She hissed, and then lunged.

"What the hell is that thing?" she heard Faith yell. The _thing _had only missed Adriana by less than foot. It looked up at her and tried to attack her again. Rocky ran and pushed her out of the way. After he got off of her, Adriana turned around, still on the ground, just in time to see him stab it with a sword. Rocky had a fucking _sword_. And lucky he did, too, because it seemed that the snake-women were coming out of everywhere. She felt a tug on her hand and she could hear Faith telling her to hurry and get up, but she sounded so distant to Adriana. She was mesmerized by the snake-women, Rocky, and now Alex had joined in the fight. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion as the snake-women lunged, her friends dodged attacks and yelling at them to leave, and golden dust flying everywhere.

As quick as wind she felt herself lifted and being carried away. She instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck, looking back over his shoulder at the chaos that seemed to be getting smaller and smaller. As soon as Adriana set foot on the ground, the world was in real time again.

"Adriana, get in!" Wyatt yelled as he started the engine. Her head whipped around at the sound of his voice. Adriana ran towards the car and had her hand on the door's handle when she heard a scream and looked up- Alex.

"Adriana!" Faith tried, but her eyes were focused on the hill, too. Adriana looked back at her friends, whose eyes and faces were filled with fear.

"We can't just leave them there!" Adriana told them. "We've got to help them!" As she turned she felt Wyatt grip her wrist. She turned to look at him again. He had leaned all the way over and was pleading her to not leave him. If they hadn't just been attacked by giant evil snake-women she would have melted. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

"Don't go," he begged. "Please."

"I'm sorry," Adriana answered. She looked at Faith and repeated it again, then once more to herself as she ran towards the fight. She had barely gotten over the hill when she heard the screeching of car wheels.

* * *

**Reviews are welcome. (:**

**((I'm a teenager writing a teenager's story not some girl with a major in English & whatnot. Sorry if anything in the story offends you, wasn't my intention.))**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the delay- I've been sick lately & then I had a bit of a Merlin marathon- & not to mention the fact that the Doctor's regeneration is tomorrow & how am I supposed to handle that? Too much for me.**

**Anyways, as promised, chapter two. **

**(I'm sorry for any grammatical mistakes, I didn't revise this at all. Also, I may have messed up some details, please don't kill me!)**

* * *

The fight afterward hadn't gone exactly as Adriana had hoped for- meaning, not well at all. Upon seeing her, her friends (who now had little bumps on their heads and hooves for feet, she noticed) were momentarily distracted, giving one of the snake-women a chance to bite Rocky on the shoulder.

Adriana rushed to her friends, who were being surrounded by the creatures and tried to bandage Rocky's arm with the red bandana he had been wearing on his head.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Alex asked. "We told you to go!"

"I couldn't just leave you guys!" Adriana yelled back. "Now, do you want me to help your boyfriend or not?"

Alex screamed and then stabbed five snake-women in a row.

"We need to get you to camp," she said. She stabbed three more to her left that disappeared into a golden dust pile on the desert floor. "Echidna's not gonna be pleased we just killed off her kids."

"_What _the fuck is going on?" Adriana asked, tying the bandana into a tight knot. "Who's Ech- Echidna?"

"Haven't you ever read any sort of Greek mythology?" Rocky asked. Adriana looked down at him.

"Uh," she said. "Yeah, but that was a while ago. And I never heard about a bunch of evil snake ladies."

"We'll explain the rest on the way," Alex said, placing her hand on her hip- or was it her flank? Adriana was still so confused. She could use some explaining because her head was spinning. She saw the slither of a snake tail- she followed it until it disappeared behind a cactus. She squinted her eyes to try and see better.

"Alex, I think-" As she was speaking, the last snake-woman lunged towards Alex at full speed. Without thinking, she grabbed Rocky's sword from beside him and hurled it. The sword went right through the snake-woman's chest. Alex and Rocky looked back at her in disbelief as golden dust floated to the ground in front of them.

"That was pretty cool," Rocky said.

"Thanks," Adriana said.

Suddenly, the rocks on the floor began to move slightly and Adriana could feel the earth beneath her vibrate. She looked at her friends and then suddenly, her hair slapped her face as something sped past them.

"Gods, Tyson," Adriana heard a female voice say. "You've seriously got to ease up on the gas pedal."

"Sorry, Annabeth," replied a much deeper voice. Once the dust disappeared and Adriana, Rocky and Alex had stopped coughing, a blonde girl who Adriana presumed to be Annabeth stepped forward and looked around. She was about the same height as Adriana, with an athletic build and slight tan.

"What happened here?" she asked.

"Surprise attack. Echidna's kids." Alex replied, and then she looked down at Rocky. "Rocky- he's hurt. We've got to get to camp. And fast."

Annabeth nodded and motioned for them to enter what Adriana now saw to be some sort of chariot. Her eyebrow raised slightly.

"You want us to get in that?" she asked aloud. Her eyes grew wide and she tried to take back what she said. "I'm sorry, it's just, I,"

Annabeth laughed lightly. "It's okay. I get it."

Adriana sheepishly looked down and bit her lip. She stepped into the chariot wearily, sitting next to Rocky who held his shoulder in pain.

"It'd be nice to get a move on, guys." He said. His voice, Adriana noticed, sounded strained.

_The bite must be worse than a regular snake's_, she thought.

Before Adriana could even take another breath, the chariot sped off, faster than she thought light travelled. She couldn't even open her mouth to scream, until it slowly began to gain a normal speed. Adriana released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

"You alright, there, Red?" Alex asked. The redhead nodded, although she knew her face was slightly green and she was ready to puke at any given moment. She hated rollercoasters, and it just so happened that this chariot ride felt exactly like one.

"M'fine," she managed to groan out, but she knew she wasn't fooling anyone.

* * *

The rest of the ride was smooth sailing, with a few occasional groans from both Rocky and Adriana. When they finally made it to New York, Adriana had never been glader to see ground before. As soon as the chariot landed, she had been the first one out. She was breathing heavily and standing on all fours next to the chariot when she realized a crowd of kids- all around her age, it seemed- began to gather around them.

_Great,_ she figured. She stood up with difficulty and began to follow the others who were trying to get Rocky to help.

"Let's get him to the Big House," she heard Annabeth say. "Now!" A group of boys standing next to her grabbed Rocky and carried him away, one of his arms over each of their necks. Annabeth turned to face her.

"Are you alright? Do you-"

"I'm fine, really. I just don't like- er, well, rides." Adriana answered. She bit her lip again and looked up at the blonde, who eyed her as if she were a blueprint. Adriana was about to say something when a raven haired boy came out from behind some bushes.

"Annabeth!" he smiled, almost relieved. "I was looking for you, Chiron told me you had-" he seemed to notice Adriana, because he smiled again, but it was a warm welcoming sort of smile. "Hi, I'm Percy. You must be new."

Adriana looked at Annabeth, almost as if asking if he was safe to talk to. When she nodded, Adriana looked back at the boy named Percy and waved awkwardly, though the turned her gaze downward.

"My name's Adriana," she said, almost timidly. She heard a familiar voice behind her mock the sentence. She whipped around to see Wyatt, arms crossed with his familiar smirk and leather jacket on.

"Jesus, Red," he laughed. "Can't do any better than that?" He smiled that smile- the one he usually reserved for her and made her melt faster than ice cream in the summer heat.

"Adriana?" she felt a hand on her shoulder that made her turn back around to Annabeth, who watched her with concerned eyes. "Are you alright?" She smiled and nodded.

"Really, I'm fine, I just-" she turned back around, and Wyatt was gone. Her eyebrows furrowed for a second before she looked at Annabeth and smiled again. "Really. Air sickness, that's all."

"So, Ariana," Percy said, walking beside her. "Where are you from?"

"It's Adriana, not Ariana." She corrected. "I was born in California, but I've moved around a lot since then."

"Like where?" he asked, obviously intrigued.

"Um, I started moving when I was around ten. I've lived in Seattle, Dallas, Chicago, Miami, Boston, Las Vegas and most recently Phoenix." As she named the places, she began counting them off her fingers. Seven.

"That's a lot of places," Annabeth noted. Adriana shrugged.

"You get used to it, I guess." She bit her lip and then looked up to see another group of teenagers gathering bows and arrows. "So, what exactly is this place?"

"It's called Camp Half-Blood." Percy answered. "It's sort of a safe haven for demigods."

"Demi-what?"

"Demigods. They're- _we're_ kind of the outcome of humans and gods mating." Annabeth replied, looking at the lake that they were now passing by. Adriana raised an eyebrow.

"You expect me to believe that we're all here because our parents screwed a god?" she asked. Without warning, a flaming arrow shot straight into the tree that Adriana happened to be standing next to. She gulped as it nearly missed her neck by a few inches. "Okay, so I believe you."

Both Percy and Annabeth laughed and walked away. Adriana gave the arrow another dirty look before following them, stepping alongside Annabeth now that the two had begun holding hands.

"So, what now?" Adriana asked, breaking the silence.

"Your godly parent will claim you," Annabeth said, simply.

"And what if that doesn't happen?" Adriana asked.

"It can't happen," Percy replied. "They've made a promise to us."

"Oh," Adriana said. Truthfully, she was slightly relieved because now no matter who her godly parent happened to be- he was stuck with her.

"So who's your mortal parent?" Percy asked. Annabeth nudged him. "Er, do you live with your mom or your dad, I mean."

"With my mom," Adriana answered.

"Percy! Percy!" a girl- who couldn't be older than eight, Adriana guessed- came running down a small hill. She was covered in grease from head to toe and her cheeks had small tear trails running down them.

"What's wrong, Maria?" Percy asked, letting go of Annabeth's hand and kneeling down. The girl was wiping her face, making the grease spread further. Adriana tried hard to suppress a smile because it was, frankly, pretty adorable. Maria, however, kept shaking her head and pulling Percy's arm. Percy looked back, shrugging, and let the little girl lead him along. Annabeth had a weary expression on her face that changed to a smile almost instantaneously.

"Let's get you to the Hermes cabin," she said, walking ahead. "Dinner's almost ready & I'm sure you could use a nap."

* * *

If there was a hell, Adriana saw it.

Everyone around her had blood on their faces on dirt on their clothes, yet they still swiped their swords and shot their arrows. Percy tried to use the small puddles to the best of his abilities, but they were gone as soon as he stepped near them.

Adriana herself had been fighting two ugly looking monsters (she never really paid attention to what they were called, exactly) for a good two minutes. Her arm was beginning to hurt, and she could feel herself already grow weaker. It didn't help that she hadn't slept much, or that she hadn't eaten much, for that matter. Spinning swiftly, Adriana successfully swiped her sword through both monsters. She smiled for a split second, before her eyes wandered back to Percy, who had his own two monsters to deal with.

"Go!" he yelled, waving at her. Adriana took a step towards him, shook her head and then darted into the small opening between two rocks. She couldn't see much, so she decided to place her hand on the wall and follow it, as her mother had once told her to do when she got lost in the town carnival's maze.

She felt the wet rock beneath the palms of her hands and had been walking a good five minutes before her ear picked up the sound of someone stepping in wet mud. Adriana stayed completely still, trying her best to see through the darkness. She gasped as an arm went around her waist and a hand covered her mouth. She pulled and scratched whomever it was who held her, but she could feel herself weakening by the second. Until finally, she kicked no more.

* * *

**Sorry for the really abrupt ending, I probably shouldn't write so late. Anyway, since it's Christmas Eve (where I am, at least), happy holidays! And if you don't celebrate Christmas, have a virtual cookie. **


End file.
